MLB Pick: New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals

The New York Yankees head over to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City to take on the Royals in a makeup game that was rained out earlier in the season. This will only be the 4th meeting of the season so far between the Yankees and Royals with the Royals winning 2 of the first 3 games.

Head to Head Trends

Under is 20-8 in the last 28 meetings in Kansas City. Yankees are 75-32 in the last 107 meetings.

Kansas City Royals (-133)

The Kansas City Royals are 1st in the American League Central and are now 2 games clear of the Detroit Tigers. The Royals have been on quite the run over the past month winning 24 of their last 31 games which included an 8 game win streak. The Royals are 15 games over .500 on the season at 72-57 but are just 5 games over .500 at home with 33 wins and 28 losses. On the hill for the Royals today is James Shields who is 12-6 with a 3.28 ERA on the season. Shields has similar home and away ERA’s but he has a much better road record this season at 8-2 versus just 4-4 at home.

Kansas City Royals Trends

Royals are 24-7 in their last 31 overall. Royals are 8-1 in their last 9 home games. Royals are 35-16 in Shields’ last 51 starts.

New York Yankees (+123)

The New York Yankees are 2nd in the American League East 6 games back of the 1st place Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees are 6 games over .500 on the season with 67 wins versus 61 losses. I find it interesting that the Yankees are actually over .500 this season considering they have a fairly big -0.27 run differential. I guess they win a lot of their close games but when they lose they lose big. Starting for the Yankees today is Michael Pineda who is 2-2 with a 2.05 ERA in just 6 starts this season. Pineda missed the first half of this season and the last 2 seasons due to injury.

New York Yankees Trends

Yankees are 2-8 in their last 10 road games vs. a team with a winning record. Yankees are 17-35 in their last 52 games as an underdog of +110 to +150. Yankees are 2-6 in their last 8 games vs. a right-handed starter.

Conclusion

I like the Kansas City Royals to stay hot and beat the Yankees today. The Royals have been one of the hottest teams in baseball over the past month winning 24 of their last 31 games plus they have James Shields on the mound who has been good this season.